This invention relates to a stacked electrical connector assembly for mounting on a circuit board and in particular to such an assembly which is saving of circuit board space.
There are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,878,856, 5,044,984, 5,080,609 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,590, stacked electrical connector assemblies for mounting on circuit boards, each such assembly comprising upper and lower electrical connectors connected together in superposed relationship, by means of at least one bracket, each connector having at least one row of electrical terminals each having a connecting post which is to be electrically connected to circuitry on the circuit board. In each case, the connecting posts of the lower connector project from a bottom base thereof which is engaged with the circuit board. In use of the assembly the posts are inserted through respective holes of a set of holes in the circuit board and then soldered to said circuitry. According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,856, the connecting posts of the upper connector are mated with an extension member, which is, in fact, a further connector from which connecting posts project for insertion through a further set of holes in the circuit board for soldering to the circuitry thereon. According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,984, the connecting posts of the upper connector have elongate vertically extending portions which engage between teeth of a separator comb projecting rearwardly from the lower connector, for insertion through a further set of holes in the circuit board. According to the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,609, the connecting posts of the upper connector are electrically connected by means of individual conductors of a flat flexible cable, to individual pins of a vertical pin header located rearwardly of the lower connector, the pins being inserted through the holes of a further set of holes in a circuit board. According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,590, the connecting posts of the upper connector are soldered to traces of an intermediate circuit board which extends vertically, the traces are in turn soldered to pins of a pin header disposed rearwardly of the lower connector, the pins being inserted through a further set of holes in the circuit board and soldered to the circuitry thereon. In the case of each of the U.S. Patents cited above, a plurality of footprints are needed on the circuit board so that a corresponding number of holes must be drilled therein and so that the connector assembly takes up a very considerable area of the circuit board.